Shooting garment



P 5, 1970 H. 0. SMITH 3,528,108

SHOOTING GARMENT Filed Dec. 2, 1968 5% a Z M- )QTTOP/VES/S United States Patent 3,528,108 SHOOTING GARMENT Howard 0. Smith, Des Moines, Iowa, assignor to 10-X Manufacturing Company, Des Moines, Iowa Filed Dec. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 780,545 Int. Cl. A41d 1/00 US. Cl. 2-94 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shooting garment including a body portion having a pair of sleeve portions secured thereto. At least one of the sleeves is comprised of an elongated length of a single piece of seamless material extending downwardly from the shoulder to the waist of the shooter and adapted to generally engage the back of the shooters arm and his elbow. The said one sleeve also includes three pieces of material which are secured together and to the single piece and comprise upper, intermediate and lower sleeve sections. The intermediate sleeve section extends from above the front portion of the elbow to a location below the front portion of the elbow. The construction of the single piece of seamless material and the three sleeve sections is such to eliminate seams from the center of the elbow area to provide the maximum comfort to the shooter.

Conventional shooting garments usually include one sleeve which is adapted to be embraced by a sling of a rifle. These conventional shooting garments are not usually properly contoured to fit the shooters arm to provide maximum comfort thereto and have seams which bother the shooters elbow area either at the front or back portions thereof. The location of the seams at the elbow area are uncomfortable to the shooter especially when the arm is resting upon the shooters legs when the shooter is firing from a sitting position. The seams at the elbow area are also uncomfortable to the shooter when the shooters arm is resting on a supporting surface as when the shooter is firing from a prone position.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a shooting garment which provides the utmost in comfort to the shooter.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shooting garment including at least one sleeve portion wherein seams are eliminated from the elbow area.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shooting garment which includes at least one sleeve portion wherein the seams are eliminated from the back portion thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shooting garment including at least one contoured sleeve portion.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shooting garment including at least one sleeve portion which is comprised of a single piece of seamless material extending from the shooters shoulder to wrist and adapted to generally engage the back of the shooters arm and his elbow and also including three sleeve sections secured thereto adapted to generally engage the front portion of the shooters arm.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shooting garment which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparentto those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the shooting garment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded front perspective view of the sleeve comprising this invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the sleeve generally seen along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view as seen along lines 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the garment in use.

The numeral 10 generally designates the shooting garment of this invention and generally comprises a body portion 12 and sleeves 14 and 16. The garment 10 shown in the drawings is designed for a right-hand shooter, that is, the butt of the gun will be placed on the right shoulder of the shooter. The sleeve 16 is the novel portion of the shooting garment and it should be understood that a sleeve identical to sleeves 16 could also be substituted for a sleeve 14 if so desired althought it is not required.

Sleeve 16 generally includes sleeve sections 18, 36, 38 and 40. Section 18 is an elongated length of a single piece of seamless material which is secured at its upper edge 26 to body portion 12 at 28 by suitable stitching.

Section 18 extends from the shoulder to the wrist of the shooter and is adapted to generally engage the back of the shooters arm and his elbow. For purposes of description, section 18 will be described as including front edge 30, back edge 32 and lower edge 34. As seen in FIG. 2, the length of edge 34 is less than the length of edge 26. Sleeve 16 also includes upper, intermediate and lower sleeve sections 36, 38 and 40 respectively which are secured to section 18 by suitable stitching and are adapted to generally embrace the front of the shooters arm. For purposes of description, section 36 includes a back edge 42, front edge 44, upper edge 46 and lower edge 48. Intermediate section 38 includes a back edge 50, front edge 52, upper edge 54 and lower edge 56. Lower section 40 includes a back edge 58, front edge 60, upper edge 62 and lower edge 64. As best seen in FIG. 2, the length of the front and back edges of each of the sections 36, 38 and 40 is greater than the length of the respective middle portions thereof generally designated by the reference numerals 66, 68 and 70 respectively.

Upper edge 46 of sleeve section 36 is secured to the body portion 12 at 72 while the back edge 42 is secured to back edge 32 of sleeve section 18 by suitable stitching. Front edge 44 of sleeve section 36 is secured to the front edge 30 of sleeve section 18 by suitable stitching. The lower edge 48 of sleeve section 36 and the upper edge 54 of sleeve section 38 are secured together by stitching and the back edge 50 and front edge 52 of sleeve section 38 are secured to the back edge 32 and front edge 30 of sleeve section 18 by stitching. The lower edge 56 of sleeve section 38 and the upper edge 62 of sleeve section 40 are secured together by stitching and the back edge 58 of sleeve section 40 is secured to back edge 32 of sleeve section 18 by stitching. The front edge 60 of sleeve section 40 is secured to the front edge 30 of sleeve section 18 by stitching.

As seen in FIG. 4, the sleeve sections 36 and 38 and the sleeve sections 38 and 40 are secured together in such a manner so as to form a flat seam. FIG. 3 illustrates the manner in which the sleeve section 18 is stitched to the sleeve sections positioned forwardly thereof. It should be noted that the intermediate sleeve section 38 is positioned so that the upper edge 54-thereof is located above the crotch of the elbow while the lower edge 56 thereof is located below the crotch of the elbow. The positioning of intermediate sleeve section 38 with respect to the elbow insures that there will be no seam positioned near the elbow area to interfere with the bending of the shooters armor which would create an uncomfortable situation. The construction of the sleeve sections 18, 36, 38 and 40 is such that the sleeve is not a straight tube but is curved forwardly and downwardly as shown in FIG. 1 to better fit the bent arm of the shooter at the time the gun is being fired.

Sleeve 14 includes upper sleeve section 74, intermediate sleeve section 76 and lower sleeve section 78. Each of these sleeve sections 74, 76 and 78 is substantially cylindrical with the upper edge of the section 74 sewn to the armpit of the body portion of the garment and with its lower marginal edge sewn to the upper edge of the section 76. The lower edge of the section 76 is sewn to the upper edge of the section 78 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The free sides of these sections are secured together by the seam 80. Scam 80 is not under the arm as in most coats, but is well up into the front of the sleeve as shown in FIG. 1. The length of the back of each of the sections 74, 76 and 78 is greater than their respective lengths as the front and at the seam 80 and by and because of this construction, the sleeve is not a straight tube but is curved forwardly and downwardly, as shown in FIG. 1, to better fit the bent arms of the shooter at the time the gun is at the shoulder position. The shaping of the sleeves of the garment is very important as well as the forward placement of the sleeve seam 80. If desired, a small gore 82 may be inserted in the sleeve to further effect its shaping during manufacture. The numeral 84 designates a gun butt shoulder pad sewn on the front of the body portion 12 and the front portion of the sleeve 14. The pad 84 has its lower edge portion split a substantial distance at the arm hole seam, as shown in FIG. 1. This construction permits a large effective shoulder pad, giving both protection to the chest and the upper portion of the arm of the user, while at the same time permitting free and comfortable movement. It should be noted that elbow pads could also be secured to the sleeve 14 or sleeve 16 as well as a sling pad if so desired.

The construction of the sleeve 16 provides the maximum in comfort and freedom of movement to the shooter and it can be seen that the design thereof has eliminated seams from the elbow area which would be uncomfortable to the shooter. The placement of the intermediate sleeve section 38 has also eliminated the occurrence of seams at the crotch area of the elbow to provide the maximum in comfort and freedom of movement. The design of the sleeve sections 18, 36, 38 and 40 is such that a contoured sleeve is provided to provide maximum comfort to the shooter while in shooting positions. Thus it can be seen that the garment accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my shooting garment without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a shooting garment,

a body portion saving at least one sleeve, said sleeve comprising an elongated length of a single piece of seamless material extending from the shoulder to the wrist of the shooter and adapted to generally engage the back of the shooters arm and his elbow, said sleeve also including upper, intermediate and lower sleeve sections secured to said single piece adapted to generally embrace the front of the shooters arm, said intermediate sleeve section extending from above the front portion of the shooters elbow to below the front portion of the shooters elbow.

2. The shooting garment of claim 1 wherein said sleeve is contoured along its length to provide a sleeve which curves downwardly and forwardly with respect to said body portion.

3. The shooting garment of claim 1 wherein said single piece includes front and back edges, and upper and lower ends, said upper end of said single piece being secured to said body portion, each of said sleeve sections having front and back edges secured to the front and back edges of said single piece respectively.

4. The shooting garment of claim 3 wherein said sleeve sections include front portions intermediate its front and back edges, said back and front edges having a length greater than the length of said front portion to provide a sleeve which curves downwardly and forwardly with respect to said body portion.

5. The shooting garment of claim 4 wherein the distance between the front and back edges at the upper end of said single piece is greater than the distance between the front and back edges at the lower end of said single piece.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,122,753 3/1964 Smith 2-94 RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR., Primary Examiner 

